Tarrant County Public Health Director Veerinder (Vinny) Taneja
(holding award plaque), along with TCPH staff members Yvette Wingate
to his left, and to his right Dr. Anita Kurian and Keisha Leatherman.
National Associate of County and City Health Officials Claude-Alix
Jacob, current NACCHO President on the far left, and Dr. LaMar
Hasbrouck, NACCHO Executive Director on far right, presented the
award.

Model Practice Award, 2016

On July 20, 2016, Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) was honored
with the Model Practice Award at the 2016 Annual Conference of the
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO),
held in Phoenix, AZ.

The Model Practice Award was
presented for TCPH's "First Responder Infectious Disease
Notification" practice that was established in 2014 as part of
the department's response to a potential Ebola outbreak.

The award celebrates local health departments for developing programs
that demonstrate exemplary and replicable best practices in response
to a critical local public health need. TCPH was one of 19 local
health department programs to receive NACCHO’s prestigious Model
Practice Award.

First Responder Infectious Disease Notification

Tarrant County Partners and Municipalities**

**Cities highlighted in white and gray received notifications.

This data was prepared by Tarrant County Public Health for its use,
and may be revised any time, without notification. Tarrant County
Public Health does not guarantee the correctness or accuracy of any
features on this map. Tarrant County assumes no responsibility in
connection therewith. Said data should not be edited by anyone other
than designated personnel, or through written approval by GIS Manager.
This data is for informational purposes only and should not create
liability on the part of Tarrant County Government, any officer and/or
employees thereof.

Public Health Concern: September 30 2014

A Liberian man visiting Texas became ill and reported to a hospital
in North Texas. Soon after, he was diagnosed with Ebola Virus Disease
(EVD) – the first diagnosis of this kind within the United States.

An unprecedented and unexpected public health crisis followed.
Epidemiology contact investigations and monitoring began amid
escalated public fear and tensions. Throughout the region, people
were afraid. News coverage was constant. Some schools were
temporarily closed. There were many questions about what to do and
how to do it.

Practice Born from Necessity

Along with the monitoring of those potentially exposed to highly
infectious EVD, the protection of first responders was important. We
needed to share locations of individuals under EVD monitoring with
first responders in affected municipalities.

Practice Goals:

Focus on prevention of exposure for first responders through
notification before potential exposure to EVD

Maintain
confidentiality and privacy rights for affected individuals

Identify and educate the point of contact/trusted agent in each
municipality

Develop clear written communications with
efficient delivery channels

Maintain compliance with
federal and state disclosure law

Goals Were Achieved Through:

Immediate, intensive planning and collaboration with County
departments and experts

Regular communications with city
officials and emergency management personnel

Focus on
confidentiality and the security of data

WE WERE DETERMINED to launch the practice without fanfare
from the media or

unnecessary attention from
the public, but with the reliability to our city partners and a commitment

to privacy for the human
beings potentially exposed to Ebola.

Notification Timeline

“During the Ebola event we
were all scrambling to ensure the safety of our personnel while
dealing with the confidentiality of those exposed. On top of
this, we wanted to reassure the public they were safe while
providing guidelines to help them limit any potential exposures
and minimize the hysteria. Your notification process helped...”

--Darrell Brown, Chief Grapevine Fire Department

WE CREATED A PRACTICE that, to our knowledge, is new to the
field of public health

in the scope of preparations
and communications related to EVD,

and applicable to other high
consequence diseases.

Project Poster

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TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

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